"Don't take the soldiers and horses to Wangzhou? How can this be done? Could it be that there are not many enemies attacking Netzhou? Song Jiangong asked hurriedly.

"Zhao Qing brought a letter from Li Mi, the governor of Wangzhou, and Li Mi's sentinel found out that the Tubo State sent 30,000 troops from Luqi City, plus 7,000 Nanzhao soldiers and horses from Huichuan, and nearly 40,000 troops approached Wangzhou."

Song Jiangong gasped, glared and said: "Triple the enemy, if you go here without a single soldier, how can you defend Wangzhou?" Could it be that the deputy marshal thinks that he is incompetent and is afraid that he will not be able to hold Quzhou in his humble position? ”

Wang Yuan shook his head and said, "You think too much, of course it's not what you think." The current situation is that our overall strength is already stretched, and the transfer of troops here to reinforce Wangzhou will give Ge Luofeng an opportunity. Rather than this, it is better to stabilize one place. Quzhou has just been hit hard, people's hearts are fluctuating, and the people are panicking. At this time, it will be difficult to hold when the enemy attacks. Therefore, it is necessary to have sufficient troops to hold on to reconstruction. I hope that the people of Quzhou will be stable and the people will live in peace and restore order as soon as possible. Do you understand my concerns? “

"But, what about the Netzhou side? Quzhou is saved, how to defend Wangzhou? ”

"General Song, the matter of Wangzhou is not a question of whether to fight or not, but whether it can be defended, but the general strategy of the game between the three kingdoms of the Tang Dynasty, Tubo and Nanzhao. Tubo just wants to take Ge Luofeng into his arms through this act of helping Nanzhao, and he can unite with Nanzhao to fight against my Tang Dynasty in the future. Ge Luofeng also wants to rely on the blessing of Tubo to contain my Tang Dynasty. I went to Wangzhou to break up their alliance, not to fight with Tibet. Of course, when it comes to having to fight as a last resort, then I can't take care of it, but I only have my way, I dare to say, even if they have nearly 40,000 soldiers and horses, they may not be able to take Netzhou. ”

Song Jiangong thought about it carefully and said: "I understand what the deputy marshal said, but it may not be easy to break up their alliance, and I think it is more likely to go to war." Therefore, the humble position strongly asked Deputy Marshal Wang to bring some soldiers and horses to defend the city. At least more than 3,000 cavalry will be taken away, and I will leave 20,000 soldiers here to defend the city, and Ge Luofeng will never be able to capture Quzhou. ”

Wang Yuan thought for a while and said: "Okay, I listen to you, 20,000 soldiers should be able to protect Quzhou, but you have to remember that you only defend and don't attack, don't care about Ge Luofeng's provocation." His soldiers and horses must not have gone far, and the surrounding counties and towns are at his disposal, so it is best for you to order all the people of the two counties to which Quzhou belongs to be included in Quzhou, so that he can toss as he wants. If you can't stand it and lead your troops out of the city, he will come to attack you. Your task is to protect the people, settle the people, strengthen the city, and defend this place. ”

Song Jiangong nodded and said: "I understand my humble position, but if Ge Luofeng goes around to the rear of my Quzhou to cut off the passage of my Quzhou materials, grain and grass, then what?" ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "He won't do it unless he's crazy." As long as he dares to go deep into the rear, I will abandon Netzhou, and I will also lead troops to catch him in the urn with you. Once Ge Luofeng is captured, will the Tubo people still attack on a large scale? Do you think that Tubo wants to have a war with my Tang Dynasty to destroy the country? Absolutely impossible. ”

Song Jiangong nodded and said: "I understand, if you obey the order of the deputy marshal, Quzhou will be impregnable." ”

Wang Yuan raised his glass and smiled: "Cheers, I won't keep you, you still have a lot to do." ”

……

In the early hours of the morning, Wang Yuan, who was heavily armed, led his horse down the street leading to the West City Gate. There were bonfires in the streets, and people were sleeping around them, and the cries of children could be heard from time to time in the night. These were the people who returned to the city from evening to night, because the tents and intact houses were limited, and they could not be accommodated for a while, so they had to make bonfires in the streets and keep them up all night.

"Tomorrow they must be settled." Wang Yuan instructed Song Jiangong and the generals who saw him off.

"Don't worry, the deputy marshal will settle the people well." Song Jiangong arched his hand.

Wang Yuan nodded, and saw two children curled up and sleeping on the ground next to the embers of the fire on the side of the road, so he stepped forward, took off his cloak and draped it over them.

"Deputy marshal, the soldiers and horses are assembled, and the deputy marshal is on the horse." Liu Dehai rushed from the front to report.

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "Okay, let's not get on the horse and alarm the people, let's go outside the city and get on the horse again." ”

Everyone nodded, and the group led the horses slowly through the street, out of the west city gate, the black pressure of three thousand cavalry had been lined up, Wang Yuan turned over and rode away with everyone, and the west gate of Quzhou City was tightly closed behind him.

Quzhou and Wangzhou gather more than 160 miles away, one east and one west are distributed on both sides of the Lushui River. It has become a gateway to the east and the west. Although the road through the mountains and dense forests is difficult and dangerous, the official road built is still in its rudiments and can still be passed. Even the wooden bridge built in Lushui a long time ago can be passed by horseback, so there is no need to detour to several ferries to cross the river, saving a lot of time.

After crossing the Lushui, the terrain gradually flattened, but there were rocks. In the Gobi, small areas of sand dunes have gradually increased, which shows that the land under the jurisdiction of Wangzhou is close to the desert. A few hundred miles to the west is the long desert area bordering Tibet, and the terrain is extremely barren.

But it is precisely this that also shows the importance of the geographical location of Wangzhou, and the fortified city on the Gobi can hold the southwest and become an inextricable city. Regardless of whether the soldiers and horses of Tubo or Nanzhao want to go north, they will be blocked by Netzhou. Moreover, the seizure of Wangzhou can be used as a springboard to officially enter the hinterland of Gongchuan and Shu, without this springboard, don't talk about anything else.

In the evening, 3,000 cavalry arrived on the plain northeast of Wangzhou, and the situation expected by Wang Yuan was different, the city of Wangzhou was not besieged by the enemy, on the contrary, in the afterglow of the setting sun, the whole city was quiet and magnificent, standing quietly on the horizon.

In order to hold the flat Gobi that is dozens of miles wide, there is a beacon fortress that rises from the ground every twelve miles, when Wang Yuan's soldiers and horses have just arrived on the Gobi, the beacon fire in front of them is lit, and the beacon fire is passed all the way to the west, until it reaches the tower of the city of Wangzhou. This is the easiest beacon to deliver the message. So when Wang Yuan led the army to arrive outside the north gate, Li Mi, the governor of the Governor of Netzhou and the servant of Shi Yushi, was already standing outside the north gate and leading the crowd to greet him.

Hearing that the deputy envoy of Jiannan Jiedu came to the city, the soldiers and people of the city were deeply encouraged, and the three thousand dusty cavalry walked on the dusty sandy street, which provoked the people to gather and watch, and the children galloped and frolicked with the horses.

Li Mi is nearly sixty years old, with a beautiful face and a fluttering white beard, looking like a scholar. But he is actually a veteran in the Jiannan Army, and he has been stationed in Wangzhou all along. When the Lushui army was defeated and Wangzhou became the next target, no one wanted to come to Weizhou to garrison, so Li Mi asked Xian Yu Zhongtong to send 10,000 soldiers and horses to reinforce him, and he independently undertook the defense of Wangzhou, but Xian Yu Zhongtong only allocated 7,000 soldiers and horses to him.

Li Mi welcomed Wang Yuan into the governor's mansion and set up a banquet to entertain him. After three cups, Li Mi asked with a smile.

"Vice Marshal Wang, I wonder how many soldiers and horses will come in the future?"

"General Li, how can there be any follow-up soldiers? There were only these 3,000 cavalry. Wang Yuan replied.

Li Mi was stunned and said, "These three thousand soldiers and horses are all the reinforcements?" That's a problem, together we have only 15,000 soldiers and horses, and the enemy army has nearly 40,000. I thought that Deputy Marshal Wang would bring tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to resist the enemy, but now it's okay, Bai is happy. ”

Liu Dehai put down the oily leg of mutton in his hand and shouted: "Three thousand soldiers and horses are too little? Didn't you hear the news of the recovery of Quzhou by three thousand horsemen? ”

Li Mi stroked his beard and said: "The news has already come, but it is because Ge Luofeng is unwilling to fight to the death, and he has not figured out the details." ”

Wang Yuan nodded approvingly: "Sure enough, it's a veteran, and it's exactly like that." The reconquest of Quzhou is nothing to boast about. ”

Li Mi said: "Deputy marshal, the old man is not belittling the credit of the Battle of Quzhou, in fact, the Battle of Quzhou has been the only victory in the past few months, and the old man is also very excited to hear it." But at present, we are facing the attack of 40,000 coalition troops, and the Tibetans will not be stingy, they will not advance or retreat in the battle, and they will not consider the gains and losses at all. Therefore, a situation like that in Quzhou is absolutely impossible. That's why the old man asked Deputy Marshal Wang about the reinforcements. ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "I understand, but I can only bring 3,000 soldiers and horses to Quzhou, and the remaining 20,000 soldiers and horses must stay in Quzhou, and we can only solve the matter by ourselves." I'll tell General Lee what I think, but before that, I want to know where the enemy forces are at the moment. I thought that Netzhou was already in the city, but I didn't expect that when I arrived here, it was a scene of sunset over the desert and the long river, and it was very calm. ”

Li Mi said: "Vice Marshal Wang, let's drink and eat food first, lest Vice Marshal Wang lose his appetite after the old man says the enemy's movements, after the banquet, the old man will report the situation to you in detail, okay?" ”

Wang Yuan laughed and said: "The old general is open-minded and funny, okay, let's drink first, and then talk about things, then don't be too anxious." ”